As a digital nomad who so far has visited over 40 countries in the last 14 years I can tell, keeping a travel journal is a must!
Helping to plan, track, and then record your journeys, activities, experiences, and memories, your travel journal becomes both your guidebook and keepsake.
But what kind of travel journey is best for your trips?
That’s what we’ll be exploring in this post.
Travel Journal Features to Consider;
1. What’s it for? (Memory, blog notes, places to revisit)
When choosing a travel journal the first thing to think about is what’s it actually for?
I write travel blog posts, so for me, it’s a tool to help me highlight the best experiences, and the best places to visit and make notes about the best points of interest to include in my posts.
It also serves as a bit of an activity planner, and a reference guide should I return to somewhere I’ve been before and want to remember the best hotel, restaurant, etc.
So what will you use your journal for? If it’s more of a pre-trip planner, you’ll want to make sure it includes packing lists and pages for dates, times, trip reference numbers, etc.
If it’s for drawing or writing poetry about the places you visit perhaps you’ll want plain pages with nothing on them to fill them with your creativity.
Perhaps you want somewhere to load or stick photos, or simply want a beautiful notebook to journal your days.
2. Vacation or Long Term Travel
Secondly, are you a long term traveler or digital nomad like me? If so, the type of journal you’ll need will likely be very different than if you’re heading off on a 2 week vacation from work.
As a long term traveler, you’ll want more sections to split the countries, the journal will need to be digital or at least light enough to fit in a backpack and it will need to last a long time as you traverse across the globe.
If it’s a keepsake of a wonderful holiday, it can be bigger – to fit inside a suitcase, lean more towards a photographic memory book, or a journal of your activities and best experiences.
3. Format (Digital, Printable or book)
Once you know what your travel journal is for and the kind of size, and type you want, it’s time to decide the format of your journal.
As a digital nomad, if you have an iPad, a digital journal is ideal. You can use goodnotes or notability and keep track of as many countries, trips, and experiences as you like without ever running out of space!
Perhaps you’re someone who enjoys putting pen to paper and if this is the case a printable or physical travel journal is a better choice for you.
4. Size
If you go down the physical journal route, you’ll need to consider the size and weight of your travel journal. You don’t want a journal that’s too big and heavy and yet, it needs to be big enough to be useful.
Be sure to look at the weight when looking at listings on Etsy or Amazon and in particular note what the cover is made of. A hardback book will always be more bulky than a paperback for example.
5. Guided or Freestyle
Lastly, do you want a guided travel journal with pre-scripted pages including packing lists, trip itineraries, journal highlight pages, etc? Would you rather have a simple lined notebook for you to fill with your thoughts and memories, or is a plain art style scrapbook more to your liking?
There are travel journals for every type of traveler, so be sure to try out a few and pick the style that works for you!
Here are 10 recommended travel journals to get you started.
Best Travel Journals
1. The Clever Fox Travel Planner
Embark on your travel dreams with the Clever Fox Travel Planner, your essential companion for adventure and exploration. With its eco-leather hardcover and compact A5 size, it’s durable and portable, designed to fit seamlessly into your travel gear. Its premium 120gsm paper ensures a smooth writing experience, capturing your memories and plans without the worry of ink bleed-through.
Features include:
- Bucket List & Itinerary Planning: Dedicated sections for crafting your ultimate travel bucket list and detailed daily itineraries, ensuring you make the most of every trip.
- Travel Essentials: Includes safety tips, a packing checklist, and helpful travel information to keep your journeys smooth and worry-free.
- Document Your Adventures: Ample space for journaling, sketching, and storing ticket stubs or photos, turning your planner into a cherished keepsake.
- Premium Paper Quality: Thick 120gsm paper that’s perfect for a variety of pens and pencils, ensuring your writing stays crisp and clear.
- Functional Design: Features a pen loop, elastic closure, and a bookmark for convenience, along with a pocket for loose notes and stickers for personalization.
- Satisfaction Guarantee: Backed by a 60-day money-back guarantee, providing peace of mind for your purchase.
Designed for every type of traveler, from weekend wanderers to seasoned nomads, the Clever Fox Travel Planner is the perfect tool to fulfill your wanderlust and keep your travel memories alive.
2. The Moleskine Traveller’s Journal
The Moleskine Traveller’s Journal is your dedicated companion for every kind of trip, designed to capture the essence of your travels, from quick getaways to epic journeys. Its structured format not only helps you plan meticulously with practical tips and an extensive calendar but also serves as a canvas to record and preserve your travel memories. With its high-quality hardcover and acid-free paper, it’s built to withstand the rigors of travel and time, turning into a cherished collection of your adventures.
Features include:
- Comprehensive Planning: Intro pages with an 8-year calendar, timeline, and sections for up to 20 Short Trips and 6 Long Trips, allowing for detailed pre-trip planning including checklists, budgeting, and must-see recommendations.
- Travel Memories & Wish List: Ample space to reflect on past travels and dream up future destinations, ensuring your wanderlust is always fueled.
- Scrapbook Ready: Transform the journal with tickets, photos, and mementos post-travel, creating a personalized scrapbook of your adventures.
- Quality Craftsmanship: Features ivory-colored 70 g/m² acid-free paper, a hard cover with themed debossing, rounded corners, elastic closure, and 2 ribbon bookmarks for durability and ease of use.
- Organized Note-Taking: Tabbed sections and themed introductory pages guide your journaling, with 400 pages for extensive note-taking and themed stickers to customize your journal.
- Elegant Presentation: Comes in a premium box with themed graphics, making it a perfect gift for travel enthusiasts and a splendid addition to your travel book collection.
3. Travel Journal by Duncan & Stone
A premium travel notebook, this beautiful travel journal measures 7.75 x 9.25 inches with 100 pages, making it easy to carry around in your backpack or travel bag.
Features include:
- Traveling Scrapbook with Prompts – Fill out basic details, favorite memories, & photos from each trip to remember the specifics that made the trip unforgettable
- Personalize your memory organizer by writing down your bucket list & special memories from 15 trips
- Adventure Journal Made to Last – A high-quality heirloom journal with a linen-bound hardcover diary and an embossed title made to last a lifetime
- Create a family keepsake journal to capture all your important travel memories
- Close the flap pocket in the back for additional keepsakes
4. Page a Day Artisan Leather Travel Journal
A beautiful vegan leather travel notebook with a handsome page-a-day journal design features travel and cloud motifs, decorative stitching, embossing, and soft, leather-like cover material.
Features include:
- A page a day with just enough space to take note of memorable places you’ve visited and explored, but brief enough for you to have more time to experience those places, rather than spending time writing about them.
- Each page provides space for you to note the Date, Location, and Weather, and jot down your own notes.
- Smooth-finish paper takes a variety of pens or pencils beautifully.
- Dotted lines subtly guide your writing.
- The paper is acid-free and of archival quality.
- A ribbon bookmark keeps your place.
- An elastic closure secures your writing.
- Tuck maps, tickets, and other flat travel mementos within the inside back cover pocket.
- Complementary cloud-pattern design endpapers.
- Sturdy bookbound-style binding.
- Rounded corners for reduced wear.
- Measures 5” wide x 7” high.
- Compact size fits easily into most bags and backpacks.
- 176 writing pages.
5. Papier Travel Journal
Set off on your adventures with the Papier Travel Journal, an essential accessory for every travel enthusiast. With its elegant foiled cover and meticulously designed pages, this journal is perfect for planning your trips and preserving your most cherished travel memories. Whether it’s a weekend getaway or an epic journey, this journal ensures that every detail of your travels is captured and treasured.
Features include:
- Structured for Six Journeys: Organize up to six separate trips, with dedicated sections for budgets, itineraries, packing lists, and all your essential travel planning needs.
- Memory Preservation: Ample space to journal, scrapbook, and highlight your favorite travel memories, ensuring every moment is recorded for posterity.
- Engaging Extras: Includes travel games and a world map to color in, perfect for entertainment during those long journeys.
- High-Quality Construction: Boasts 192 pages of 85gsm paper with a silk finish, ensuring durability and a smooth writing experience, all encased in a 3mm hardback cover.
- Unique Designs: Choose from a selection of eclectic designs to find one that resonates with your personal style, making your travel journal as unique as your adventures.
- Ideal Gift: A thoughtful choice for a Christmas stocking filler, a colleague’s farewell, a teacher’s thank you, or a personal treat to fuel your wanderlust.
6. Everywhere You Go Compendium
This unique guided planner holds unexpected daily journal prompts to help inspire thoughtful reflections from any travel adventure. It includes breakout spreads with uplifting quotes to help frame your thoughts and experiences, along with space for packing lists, notes, addresses, and things you want to remember.
Features include:
- Foil stamping on a soft cover and a ribbon marker. Printed with soy and metallic inks.
- 5.75″W x 8.5″H, 112 pages
- Quick snapshot pages to record important memories
- Unique travel pages to list trip highlights
- Creative prompts and inspiring goal-setting quotes
- An elegant gift to celebrate a travel adventure, retirement, bon voyage party, or big vacation
7. Leather Journal Notebook & Sketchbook for Women
A premium leather notebook, made of high-quality soft leather, comfortable in your hands and suitable for pockets or bags. Durable for outdoor activities, travel, and storage. Exquisite printing on the front cover makes it more retro and attractive.
Features include:
- Notebook Inserts – good quality craft paper, sturdy but smooth for most pens and pencils, such as fountain pens, and ballpoint pens, with no bleed-through.
- Comes with 6 card slots and a zipper pouch.
- Freestyle traveler notebook including 180 blank pages, perfect for writing, drawing, sketching, quick notes, sticking ticket stubs, or other memorabilia.
- Refillable diary, super-easy to remove or replace and make as thin or as bulky as you want.
- Multifunctional vintage travel journal – works well for journaling, spiritual or gratitude journals, bullet journaling, art journaling, daily planner, adding notes, doodles, and to-do lists.
- Perfect for all travelers whether vacationing or a digital nomad.
- A lovely gift for yourself, your family, or friends for Christmas, Thanksgiving, Birthday, etc.
8. Handcrafted Vintage Leather Journal for Life with Accessories
A High-quality full-grain 100% leather journal that looks, smells, and feels beautiful. Naturally tanned leather will age with character and develop its own unique patina. A lifelong keepsake for your travel thoughts and expressions.
Features include:
- Refillable travel journal. Buy this leather notebook once and use it for a lifetime.
- Fountain Pen-friendly paper for writing.
- Blank and un-lined.
- 90 double-sided sheets (180 total). Refills available online
- Contains 1 Standard-size travelers notebook with three BLANK inserts, Wanderings leather notebook conditioner, Kraft paper card holder, and PVC pouch, a binder clip to help stay organized, with 2 elastics for replacements or to add additional inserts. Almost a $50 value if purchased separately.
- A stunning leather travel journal, carefully handcrafted for quality with a rustic, vintage look, soft and supple feel, and the durability of leather journals.
- Also available on Amazon in sizes A6 (B083JYG6VR), A5 (B07JNPNKKJ), Pocket (B01N24BYQ7), and Large (B079K8GS6W).
- Money back guarantee – If for any reason you don’t love the Wanderings leather notebooks please let them know and they’ll send you a refund – no questions asked
9. Travel Journal for Teens
Features Include:
- Pages for documenting trip itineraries and calendar overviews of travels
- Six pages for each day of traveling, or for each stop on their itinerary: Three pages with writing prompts and three pages for additional journaling, sketching, and attaching items such as photos, tickets, postcards, etc.
- Prompts for location, weather, mode of travel, favorite activities, people met, favorite foods, funny experiences, and much more!
- Packing checklist
- Ideal for teens and tweens!
- The compact 6″ x 9″ size is perfect for taking along on travels
- 120 prompted pages, providing space to document 19 days or 19 destinations on your trip
- Colorful, fun cover design
- Matte, softcover paperback
10. Travel & Activities Journal for Kids
Features Include:
- Over 100 games, puzzles, mazes, mad libs, journal prompts, scavenger hunts, and other activities
- Reduce screen-time with interactive activities that both kids and families can enjoy on the road
- Take a road trip to get away from it all, while the kids are happy, occupied, and engaged
- Enjoy the journey as much as the destination, no phones, apps, computers, or screens required
- Create the Ultimate Playlist
- Photo Scavenger Hunt
- You’re a Poet
- Car Yoga
- Rainbow Cars
- Interview with a Passenger
- Learn to Write in Code
- Make a Grass Whistle
- Daily Journal Pages
- Rebus Puzzle
- Car Maze
- Travel Log Pages
- Match the Signs
- Logo Quest
- And much more!
Best Travel Journals Summary
As a traveler, not keeping a track of your journeys, activities and events means hours of searching through your photos to remember where you’ve been!
Instead, start journaling now, note down all the important things that happened and enjoy hours of leafing through old entries remembering all your fun times.
As a digital nomad it’s an imperative planning & learning tool! With each experience you’ll discover something new which can help with future travels, so purchase or download your travel journal right now and start tracking your trips!
Have fun!
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